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The first-ever 3D-printed battery is less than 1mm wide

“In order to make a battery so small, the Harvard and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign team used a 3D printer to create tiny stacks of battery electrodes. Each electrode is thinner than a strand of human hair. The battery is of the standard lithium-ion variety, so with it comes all of the faults and benefits of lithium-ion. The custom 3D printer employed by the team uses special inks that are electrochemically active, and harden into cathodes and anodes once extruded from the printer’s nozzle. The anodes and cathodes were printed in a pattern similar to a common comb, then a case and electrolyte solution were added as finishing touches.” Continue reading →

Bill Bonner: Special Independence Day Edition

“Eventually history will tell the story of how Edward Snowden came out and revealed the extent to which the feds – under the guise of protecting us from terrorism – were laying the foundation for a police state. This was deeply disturbing to thoughtful people…if there were any…who feared the rise of an all-knowing, all-powerful Big Brother, from whom no secrets are kept, from whom no desires are hidden. And it was disturbing too to the Big Brothers themselves. They insisted on knowing everything about everybody else’s business. But they made it a crime to reveal what they were up to! In short, nobody likes a snitch…and a snoop especially dislikes a snitch.” Continue reading →

Paul Rosenberg: Top 5 Reasons I Stopped Caring About Politics

“When I was young, I felt a need to understand politics, and I spent time studying. But as time progressed, I received diminishing returns on that investment. And in the past few years, I have given it up altogether. These days, my concern with politics is limited to things like these: Who is making war, and where? Where is the crime occurring in my area? Are there laws that will force me to move my businesses offshore? Beyond that, I’m really not interested. I see the headlines, but I seldom read the stories. And I’m very happy saying, ‘I haven’t looked into it,’ when people ask my opinion on the day’s ‘news.’ Here’s why.” Continue reading →

Female inmates sue Texas county for running ‘rape camp’ at jail

“Two female inmates have sued a Texas county and three former jailers for running what they said was a ‘rape camp’ at the county jail. In a court filing obtained by Courthouse News Service, inmates J.A.S. and J.M.N name Live Oak County and former jailers Vincent Aguilar, Israel Charles Jr. and Jaime E. Smith as defendants. Although the three guards were arrested in 2010 on charges of sexual assault and are now serving time in Texas state prisons, the women have brought to light new disturbing details about the abuse. They are seeking punitive damages for civil rights violations, assault and emotional distress.” Continue reading →

Why the ‘War on Drugs’ has been made redundant

“Professional but clandestine labs are rifling the scientific literature for new psychoactive drugs and synthesising them as fast as the law changes. Despite the free availability of substances as pleasurable as already banned drugs, we have not seen a massive increase in problem users and drug mortality rates have been falling. Even with the newly introduced ‘instant bans’, drug laws are simply not able to keep up. It has long been clear that the drug war approach of criminalising possession rather than treating problem drug-users has been futile. The war on drugs has not been lost, it has been made obsolete.” Continue reading →

Something’s not all right with Medicare

“What could possibly be so powerful that it threatens the viability of the largest revamping of health care in half a century? It’s the amount of money Medicare pays doctors for services rendered. Next year the ACA mandates that the reimbursement rate for doctors’ services be cut by 24.7 percent. If that happens without a hitch — without the first Million-Doctor March on Washington or doctors forming a union as tough as the Teamsters — the health-care cost savings envisioned by the ACA may actually come to pass because doctors will either be working for less money from Medicare or they will have said goodbye and good luck to their Medicare patients.” Continue reading →

Supreme Court rules generic drug makers cannot be held liable for defects

“The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that makers of generic drugs already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cannot be held liable under state law for claims of design defects. In a 5-4 vote, the court ruled for Mutual Pharmaceutical Co, a unit of URL Pharma, owned by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries.” Continue reading →

Washington state pot regulators favor outdoor growth for environmental reasons

“The regulatory board overseeing marijuana legalization in Washington State is leaning toward allowing licensed growers to raise the drug outdoors, citing the much higher carbon footprint of indoor and greenhouse cultivation, board members said. The shift on cultivation rules underscores the degree to which the Washington State board is taking public feedback to heart, Chairwoman Sharon Foster said, and comes after the Seattle Times cited a 2012 study published in the journal Energy Policy saying that a kilogram of cannabis grown indoors requires the same amount of energy as 11 cross-country car trips.” Continue reading →